The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Ten Years Ago

March 23, 2006

Leadership in the senior citizen ranks and faithful service with recycling efforts in the Touchet Valley were recognized by the members of the Waitsburg Commercial Club at its Annual Meeting last Tuesday, as Lillian Judd and Jack Cyr were named Co-Community Service Award recipients.

Ballots for the City of Watisburg’s first-ever all-mail city election were posted this week in Waitsburg. Ballots are being mailed to all registered voters in the city and must be postmarked by Monday, April 3, 2006, or returned to Waitsburg City Hall to be valid. Some 750 ballots were mailed. The ballot lists incumbents Marty Dunn for mayor and Jean M. Hinchliffe for treasurer, both nominated at the Commercial Club caucus and by a second caucus which put up the More Choices Ticket and had as a slogan “Representative Government.” Eight names are on the ballot for City Council, including the incumbents Orville Branson, Bettie Chase, Larry Johnson, Markeeta Little Wolf, and Mark Shively, along with Larry Clinton, Jim Helm and Bill Dawes. Dawes has indicated that he will not serve, if elected.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

March 21, 1991

Bettie Chase, lifelong resident of Waitsburg and local historical expert par excellence, was named as “Citizen of the Year” by the Waitsburg Commercial Club at the annual banquet Tuesday evening.

Principal Intern Dan Butler has been working with a local group to explore the possibility of obtaining grant money to do some local planning on a variety of topics. In a committee meeting on March 11, Butler said the group looked into some ideas on assistance to parents, the possibility of some additional recreational equipment and facilities, and setting up a youth-managed employment agency.

Sandra Conover, a senior at Wait-Hi, was FFA Sweetheart of the Hillbilly Hoedown, a dance held recently in the multi-purpose room of the elementary school. The hillbillies at the youthful shindig stomped, hopped, jigged and jogged to the marvels of electronic recording – audio tapes.

Fifty Years Ago

March 24, 1966

The Grade School Rhythm Program will be presented on Friday night, March 25 in the High School Gym at 7:30. Glynn Davis announced that the program would consist of square dancing, round dancing, circle dancing, choral readings, and chorus singing.

Brown-eyed, brown-haired Kay Wehe, a 17-year-old Prescott Junior is a candidate for the title of Queen of the Days of Real Sport for 1966. Kay, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Wehe lives on the family farm at Eureka where she has spent all of her 17 years.

Bill Dickeson arrived home on March 15 after spending the winter in California with his children. Despite the weather, spring has officially arrived now that Bill Dick is back in his old familiar haunts.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

March 28, 1941

There has been a number of pretty good steelhead trout caught along the Touchet River close to the city the past few days. Maurice Ganguet last Thursday brought in one fish which measured 31 inches and weighed 6 ½ pounds.

Mr. and Mrs. Gene Ray and their daughter, Gloria Jeanne, Lolita Tricheir, Elizabeth Danielson, and Helen Recor of Prescott, attended the Rainbow Girls meeting in Dayton Friday night.

The Sorotus Club met at the home of Mrs. Melven Thomas Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Herman Gohlman gave a paper on ‘Nylon Hosiery’.

One Hundred Years Ago

March 31, 1916

O. M. Conover is plowing on the Dacres place near Walla Walla pulling nine 16-inch bottom plows and turning 12 feet of ground every day. He averages 25 acres per day with his tractor engine.

N. B. Atkinson, Frank Callahan, D.C. Eaton, Gus Vollmer, Walter Price and D. B. Stimmel were among the members of Waitsburg Local No. 1 who attended the Farmer’s Union District Convention at Dayton Saturday.

Mason C. McCoy of this city recently received his patents for the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands on what is considered by mechanics to be a very perfect railroad lock nut.

Appraisers of the Lewis Neace estate filed their report Saturday sating that the property in the State of Washington is valued at over a million dollars.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

March 27, 1891

Everybody should take a paper. Even a paper of pins has many good points.

The Presbyterian Society of Christian Endeavor will observe Easter Sunday by holding an early morning meeting at six o’clock. Everybody is cordially invited to attend.

In his talk last night, Dunstan, the Regulator, gave the cigarette smokers a scorching rebuke. While smoking is a detriment to anyone, the act of doing so in the presence of ladies, denotes a very low forehead.

On Wednesday, Martin Hauber had a streak of bad luck, one of his horses, falling, smashing the buggy tongue into smithereens.